Dance Lest We All Fall Down - Margaret Willson [114]
To a Mailing List of 300: September 11, 2002
Dear Friends, Volunteers, and Donors,
I look at the date as I begin to write this and realize it has been a year since the attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. Rita called me that day, worried, hoping that I was all right. We talked about the future of Bahia Street, of how uncertainties among world powers affect poverty in countries like Brazil, and how, within the insecurity, danger, and fear, so many of us continue to do those things in which we believe. There was a closeness between us, a realization of unity of purpose that stretches across national boundaries and ethnicities. I remember we felt it also when we both lay flat on the floor of Rita’s apartment in Salvador listening to gun shots, witnessing our mortality.
That day, Rita and I also talked about the sad difficulties Aninha is facing. Aninha is eleven, one of the brightest of our younger girls. She studies very hard and has a joyful spark that makes the other girls want to have her as their friend. She and her three siblings lived with her father and grandmother. When their mother died, her father took responsibility of all four children. Her grandmother has been a constant volunteer for Bahia Street, walking the children to and from school, continually concerned for their safety and well-being.
Last month, Aninha’s father was assassinated. Two hired killers shot him as he came home one night. He was not involved in any gang activity or drugs and, as yet, Rita has been unable to determine why he was killed. She suspects it was mistaken identity.
Aninha stayed home for a week, but then she returned to the Bahia Street Center, accompanied by her grandmother, who has also been spending considerable time there since the death. She is helping around the Center, and everyone there is trying to give her as much support as possible. The worry, beyond Aninha and her grandmother’s grief and helping them deal with the violence of Aninha’s father’s death, is that the family now has no financial support. Rita is helping Aninha’s grandmother in trying to find some kind of work. In the meantime, Bahia Street has given the family a loan to help them survive.
Rita had also warned me that our wonderful English teacher, Sally, was thinking of quitting. Then I received a letter from our Spanish teacher, Margarita, about Sally’s situation that was such a delight I have to share it with you. Margarita wrote:
“I am writing to you to let you know that Sally, the English teacher, has decided not to leave Bahia Street.
The little girls wrote some letters to her asking Sally not to leave and telling her that they love her. I helped some of the girls to write their letters in English in order to make Sally feel more emotionated. They also played a theater with puppets for Sally telling her ‘Please, stay. We love you and we promise to you not to shout in class and to be good.’
Sally could not go away.”
I had to smile reading this. I don’t think any of us could resist such a plea. Sally didn’t have a chance.
I have recently returned from London. I went there, in part, to further organize the Bahia Street group there. They have been working for a year now for Bahia Street. Of these funds, not the largest, but possibly the most cherished, is the 150 pounds raised by girls at the Francis Holland-Clarence Gate School at a cake sale. The sale was organized by thirteen-year-old Clara, daughter of Alex, one of our board members in London.
And a day after my return, we are kicking off the campaign to buy a Bahia Street Center building! The Brazilian currency is so low in comparison to the dollar right now; we can buy a wonderful, large building in the center of Salvador for about $25,000. Our goal is to raise $45,000 to cover upgrading of electricity, renovations, legal fees and other expenses, such as title searches, etc. This building is part of the plan to enable